The dead are walking, men die impossible deaths, and it seems as though reality itself has become unstable: All are signs of the imminence of Tarmon Gai'don, the Last Battle, when Rand al'Thor, the Dragon Reborn, must confront the Dark One as humanity's only hope. But Rand dares not fight until he possesses all the surviving seals on the Dark One's prison and has dealt with the Seanchan, who threaten to overrun all nations this side of the Aryth Ocean and increasingly seem too entrenched to be fought off.

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The dead are walking, men die impossible deaths, and it seems as though reality itself has become unstable: All are signs of the imminence of Tarmon Gai'don, the Last Battle, when Rand al'Thor, the Dragon Reborn, must confront the Dark One as humanity's only hope. But Rand dares not fight until he possesses all the surviving seals on the Dark One's prison and has dealt with the Seanchan, who threaten to overrun all nations this side of the Aryth Ocean and increasingly seem too entrenched to be fought off. But his attempt to make a truce with the Seanchan is shadowed by treachery that may cost him everything. Whatever the price, though, he must have that truce. And he faces other dangers.

The winds of time have become a storm, and things that everyone believes are fixed in place forever are changing before their eyes. Even the White Tower itself is no longer a place of safety. Now Rand, Perrin and Mat, Egwene and Elayne, Nynaeve and Lan, and even Loial, must ride those storm winds, or the Dark One will triumph.

What the Critics Say

"Explodes with motion, as multiple plot lines either conclude or advance, and the march to Tarmon Gai'don, the climactic last battle between the Dragon Reborn and the Dark One, begins in earnest." (Publishers Weekly) "The battle scenes have the breathless urgency of firsthand experience, and the...evil laced into the forces of good, the dangers latent in any promised salvation, the sense of the unavoidable onslaught of unpredictable events bear the marks of American national experience during the last three decades." (The New York Times) "Jordan has a powerful vision of good and evil, but what strikes me as most pleasurable...is all the fascinating people moving through a rich and interesting world." (Orson Scott Card)

I loved the first 7 books of this series, and then felt let down by the next three. I kept thinking to myself please just get me to the last battle! And then book 11 came, I almost didn't get this book, I didn't know if I had anymore to give to this series. Well I am so glad I did get this one, it restored my love in the wheel-of-time series. It returned to the core party, it tied off loss ends, and made a very good start at getting us to the final battle. I felt the urgency growing!

I will not give away anything, however I must say there is one very emontional part that was written to tug at the heart strings, and it did, I wanted to join the golden crain and stand by it in the last battle!

If you have read the last 10 books, you must, must get this one! If you are thinking of starting a new series with lot of life I can recommend this one now with no hesitation.

Well things finally get moving again in this one. We've been suffering through the last couple of books, but now we've got some action, and finally resolution to a couple of the plot lines. Only problem here is we're still hearing way too much about the Aes Sedai. They still come off sounding like a bunch of spoiled children arguing over their little plots while the world comes apart around them. It seems to come off as petty bickering instead of political intrigue, but you can suffer through that to get the rest of it.
Like others have said, too much Aes Sedai, not enough of Matt, Perrin, and Rand. But if you've gone this far, through 10 books, including a couple that were downright painful, then you'll be pleased with this. Now, stop reading reviews, you know you were going to buy it anyway. Just click add to cart and be done with it...well go on.

So, if you're like me you're in for a nickel, in for a dime on this series. If you've read the other 10, you're bound to read this just to see what happens.

Welcome to Knife of Dreams, the second to last book of the Wheel of Time series and well...its good, but its no Great Hunt, Shadow Rising, Fires of Heaven, its not even a Crown of Swords.

Dont get me wrong, its still enjoyable because Jordan is finally getting around to fulfilling all of the prophecies and foretellings that characters have had over the last 10 books, but I get the feeling that while he still writes in big blocky paragraphs, he is rushing to tie things up.

Overall, if you've read the entire series you're reading one of the better ones since book 7, but read w/ gaurded expectations as this isnt a mind blowing experience.

You didn't make it here if you are not a WoT fan...(except for the one reviewer who seems to think skipping a few books is a reasonable thing to do...).

At any rate - there are no long courtships (well...except for "Precious" and "Toy" - but it's not annoying), everyone has pretty much fallen into his or her role, and we're back on track, making significant progress toward the last battle.

There's excitement, and victories, and...well, there are still 3 more books (was going to be 1, but Sanderson wisely changed it to 3. The first of the three is even better than this one, BTW).

I would strongly suggest going back through the first 11 again before starting the last three - but short of that, DEFINITELY do this one. If you go back and listen/read a second (or more) time, you'll notice that this series is ... amazingly ... coherent...

Anyway - after ... a thousand or two pages of ... seemingly little movement - this book (if not the one before) gets things back on track.

If you're a WoT fan, and I KNOW you are (except the lady who skipped a few books), you WILL like this one.

If you follow Robert Jordan you are probably aware by now that he is currently fighting a life threatening disease and his family and fans face the prospect of loosing a literary genius. Robert Jordan has given fans of fantasy one of the great epics, as I write this I pray that he he is given the the time to write us an end for this great work and goes on to create many more. Many thanks Robert and may God speed you back to good health. Start at the beginning and read them all… some slow paced….. some fast….. some lows but many highs…. Overall, authorial brilliance.

Well I must say it is indeed getting a little better with this series. The last two editions in this series have been tragic disappointments with one pointless side plot after another. At least with this latest edition of the Wheel of Time, there seems to be a progression of the main story lines as well as some action that was sorely lacking in the last few books. I hope that the next few editions continue on this (hopefully) upward progression back to the original plot lines.

The past 3 books have mostly been awful, if judged on their own and not as a whole with the entire series.

This one is definitely better, but only because of the Mat Cauthon story line. I would have thought I would enjoy Perrin's as well, but it is attached to yet another situation where a bunch of female characters are being held against their will. And, of course, as soon as she is rescued, Jordan immediately writes another set of his female characters to walk with bravado into another obvious situation for things to not go as planned and one of them gets taken against their will.

I agree with many of the other reviews. Jordan is as verbose as ever, but everything reads rushed and sloppy. I can't help but feel that there was too much time spent on things that just don't have enough literary value to the story.

It's worth it just for the Mat Cauthon parts, though. Mat has consistently been the most interesting and consistently quality reading character out of all of the later books. Perhaps making up for the fact that he spent so much of the earlier books annoyingly under the influence of or chasing the dagger from Shadar Logoth.

Robert Jordan is know for taking his sweet time with setting up plots and even more for resolving them(even more for describing everything). This book is no different from the other ten in that respect. It starts off really slow, but after about a third of the way through begins to heat up.

Perrin/Faile plot is finally resolved. Mat/Tuon plot comes to a head. And for once all the time spent on Elaynes' story leads somewhere. All in all a huge improvement over the last few books, but still lacking some of the grandeur and pace that made the earlier books so captivating. My biggest complaint is that Rand, once again, barely gets a piece of this book(my favorite character). Rand is so darn cool, use him more RJ.

With one more book to go(supposedly) u wont want to miss out on this one. I almost forgive RJ for the last 3 in the series... almost

Sure, read the first TEN books and skip number eleven cause some reviewer didn't like it? RIGHT!! the book was a good one, and I have the same complaint as the other ten from RJ, too heavy with Aes Sedia plotting, too light on the boys, and a total setup for number twelve. Ain't it grand!!
We RJ fans will always happily spend our money on books in this series and complain later, at the same time trying to get our friends hooked on the wheel of time series and extolling it's virtue to the world.

It's good to see parts of the many stranded stories within the Wheel Of Time moving towards completion. For a long time it seemed that things were just moving along but now it's difficult to put the book down. Can't wait for the next in the series.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

janet

birmingham, United Kingdom

11/15/11

Overall

"Great return to form... such a shame though.."

It's a shame that this was Jordan's swan song, as this was a brilliant return to what readers were used to, and completely supassed my expectations.

Book 10 was very hard to finish reading as a novel, and even in audible form, despite the narrators excellent efforts, it was a fairly dull book.

Knife of Dreams not only corrected Book 10's problems, but it is possibly Jordan's best, if not very close to The Shadow Rising. This book has more action in it's prolouge than occured in the previous book!
It sets a relentless pace and moves the storyline along at an appreciated rate.
Mat is extremely funny as always, and this book brings a welcome, if bittersweet ending to the Faile-Shaido story arc.
Michael Kramer and Kate Reading brought their usual good work to the narration, I couldn't imagine Wheel of Time without them!

It was a shame Jordan died afterwards. Sanderson did a great job following up Jordan's work, but Jordan himself will be missed greatly.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

S. Powell

7/20/15

Overall

Performance

Story

"Loving this series"

Would you listen to Knife of Dreams again? Why?

Yes All the characters and their stories are truly gripping and I look forward to where they will end up

What other book might you compare Knife of Dreams to, and why?

Name of the windThe story is unforgettable and I am invested in all the characters . The way the story is written does not get old

Which character – as performed by Kate Reading and Michael Kramer – was your favourite?

MattI find his presence both comic and strong. Also there is a mystery around his relationship with the daughter of the nine moons which grips me

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

The battles draw me in with excitement and fear, I find I'm more into the story when a battle commences

Any additional comments?

Great book narrated very well

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Lucy Angela Bracegirdle

1/16/15

Overall

Performance

Story

"very good."

there was one part that had me thinking there was a fault. it cuts tarna off mid sentence and jumps to a mat chapter. I thought it had missed some until I looked at the real book. don't worry folks, the book actually does this.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Frantisek

Wallingford, United Kingdom

3/1/13

Overall

"Average"

Done it! Listened while working through the whole 14 books. Not bad - not brilliant either. Too much describing of what are people wearing, limited dictionary of dialogues and male-female relationships/interactions painfully similar, predictable -boring (Mr Freud would find it certainly interesting though :)

Maybe because English isn't my first language, maybe I'm spoiled by other writers or maybe Robert Jordan just isn't my type of author but haven't I been working at the time of listening I would considered it time wasted.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Jules

Ennis, Ireland

1/21/13

Overall

"Great!"

It's a Wheel of Time book. What more do I need to say? It's great!

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

a

Bath, United Kingdom

12/26/12

Overall

"Excellent, a compelling and addictive epic."

This is one of the best fantasy epics ever written, a series right up there with the work of J. R. R. Tolkien but be warned it is not one to be taken up lightly, this series is Huge!

The books have been kept together so one audio book will get you one book and many hours of happy listening.

Sadly Robert Jordan died in 2007 after publishing book 11, but with the help of Jordan’s wife/editor Harriet McDougal, Brandon Sanderson has taken up the torch, using Jordan’s plentiful notes he is finishing off the series brilliantly, with book 14 being the final volume.

The series is voiced by Michael Kramer and Kate Reading throughout and their performances are exemplary, their narration brings the world to life in a way that simply reading it never had for me, they bring a unique voice and feeling to each of the characters that brings them to life and firmly embeds them in your heart.

The only negative I have to put in is that the audiobooks chapter division bears no relation to where the chapters start and end in the books making the chapter search and snooze modes on the app all but useless.

All in all a five star read. An absolute must for any fantasy epic fan.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

N

Bradford, W Yorks, United Kingdom

11/8/10

Overall

"Awesome"

Without doubt the best of the series. The opening sword-fight is so beautifully described it becomes almost poetry. Mat is developed so well too; laconic humour, so funny, laugh out loud funny!

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

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